Baking oven



P "1 ,637 618" Aug. 1927' 'F. KUHTZ i BAKING ovmq v 5/ Filed June 15,1925 ts sheet 2 Pumas Au 2, 1921.

UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE.

i'BIlDIR-IOE rum cmsran', Gm.

name Om.

Application ma June 1:, ms, was In. sum, ml in Germany has 11, is.

My invention relates to baking ovens, more especially to ovens forcontinuous operation. It is an object of my invention to remove thedifiiculties involved in the continuous 0 ration of baking ovens inwhich the dou action 0 steam for a short period and thereafter to dryheat. The solution of the roblem is comparatively simple in ovens orintermittent operation. In ovens having intermittently o eratedconveyors and a steam chamber at t e entrance end of the oven it ispossible to steam the goods at the start, but in this case, it isnecessary to supply with fresh loaves an area of the belt conveyer whichis equal to the area in the steam chamber as many times as the steaming0 oration is repeated. In view of the consi erable size of ovens of thiskind this condition can be fulfilled only with rather complicated means,while for some kinds of goods it cannot be fulfilled at all, the moreso, because the goods, after having been placed on the conveyer, areoften cut and brushed over the water. a

It has alread been proposed to eliminate the necessity o arresting thebelt conveyer during the steaming periods by conducting the conveyerbelt in upwardly inclined direction in a closed steam chamber. By thisex+ pedient, however, the object sought is achieved but incompletely; asa rule the steaming period is too long and'on the other hand theintensity of steaming is insuflicient,

as the chamber is only filled with a thin veil of steam while inreality, and more particularly in the case of rye bread, a dense cloudof steam under pressure is re uired in order 'to keep the crust soft ands iny notwithstanding the high initial heat.

On the other hand, continuous operation of the conveyer is ve desirableand, in many cases, indispensab e, because it is then ossible tocontinuously put on, cut and rush the loaves. v

According to the present invention the problem of effecting a short andintense steaming in a continuously 0 rated ovenis solvedby providing amovab e steam cham-.

ber havln the form of a hood or chest covering t e predetermined area ofthe conveyer belt and which travels with the belt .of fresh oaves. orthe like is subjected" to the.

a certain distance which may be equal to the length or part of thelength of the hood, whereupon the hood is rapidly returned to itsinitial sition so as to cover a number The hood is filled with densesteam after havin been placed overv the leaves. If the heat m below doesnot suflice, the hood may be provided with separate heating means. Thesteam can be ex- Ezlled from the hood at any desired moment,

fore the hood starts on its return stroke.

In the drawings affixed to specification and forming part thereof, anoven embodymg my invention is illustrated diagrammatlca ly' by way ofexample;

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the oven,

11g. '2 is a similar view of its front end, drawn to a larger scale, Fgs. 3 and 4 are-cross sections,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, and

Fig. 6 is a rear end elevation of the steam hood position indicated indotted lines at 6. The

oven is provided with the usual discharge pipes 20 and 21, steam pipe22, partition 23 and end door 24. i

In Figs. 2, 3 and 6 the belt conveyer is shown to comprise a number oflaths 2" each provided at either 'end with rollers 2" which moveon atrack 25 and are connected by chains 8.

The hood 6 has four wheels 7 with which it rests on the sole of thetunnel. 8 are pre- 1 ferred gas pipes to which a mixture of as and airfrom a Bunsen burner 81 is supplied through a header 82. A rubber tubeor some other flexible connection (not shown) \may be provided to su plygas'to the burner 81. Obviously other heating means for in-.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the bricka pipe 10 in which a rubbertube or some other flexible connection may be inserted as shown inFig. 1. Heating pipes 9 may be embedded in the sole of the tunnel forheating the loaves from below. 11 is a-pipe equipped with a throttle 111for discharging steam or vapours from the hood-6, th1s pipe being bentinto U-shape and provided at its free end with a flange 12'which movesin a passage 121 ending in a chimney 122.

Slides 13 and 14 mounted at the front and rear walls of the .hood 6'aregoverned by av system of links and levers 15 provided with an operatinghandle 16 at the rear end of the hood; which is fixed to a shaft 161extendlng transversely across the hood. At the opposite end of the shaftalever 151 is secured. The handle 16 and lever 151 engage pins 152 ofthe front slide .13. A lever 153 mounted on the same end of shaft 161 aslever 16 and preferably integral with the shaft is connected withanother lever 154 on a shaft 155 at the other end of the hood by aconnecting :rod' 156. Levers 157 and 158 mounted on both ends of theshaft 155 outside the hood 6 are connected with pins 159 of the slide 14so that by raising the handle 16 the slides 13 and 14 are raised, whileby lowering it they are lowered also. A transverse flange 61 is securedto the rear end of the hood, and a check 62 is provided at the front endof the oven tunnel for limiting the stroke of the hood.

Instead of the slides 13, 14 other suitable means may be provided, suchas for instance hinged flapsso dimensioned as to pass clear of theloaves when being opened. The hood may also be arranged to be raised andlowered, so that it can be returned to its initial position at the frontend of the oven and lowered on the conveyer. Means for raising andlowering the hood may be combined with flaps or doors at its ends sothat the. hood may be slightly raised in order to facilitate theoperation of the flaps or slides.

I may also provide automatic means (not shown) for performing all 'orany of the operations connected with the hood. Grips 17 are provided onthe front wall of the hood 6. In operation loaves'or other goods areplaced on the conveyer 2 at the front end of the oven as indicated bythe arrow 4, and the hood 6 is moved into its initial position shown indotted lines at 6' in Fig. 1, in

which it covers the fresh loaves. The slides 13 and 14 and the throttle111 are closed, and steam is admitted to the pipe 10. The hood is nowcarried along by the conveyer 2 by friction, the slides 13 and 14resting on the conveyer. After a predetermined time, the steam supplypipe 10 is closed and the throttle 111 of the discharge pipe 11 isopened, so that the steam and vapour can escape from the hood into thechimney 122. The opening of the discharge pipe11 and the closingof thesteam pipe 10 are timed in conformity with the character of the 'dough.When the hood has reached the position shown in full lines (Figs. 1, 3,4, and 5) with its front wall substantially flush with the front end ofthe oven, the slides 13 and 14 are raised by means of the handle 16, andthe hood is returned to its initial position by means of the grips 17.The outward stroke of the hood is limited by the flange 61 meeting thecheck 62.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction, shown and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

oven, and a movable hood extending oven,

said conveyer located at the entrance of said oven and arranged to becoupled with and to travel a limited distance with said conveyer, theend walls of said hood being formed with openings, means for controllingsaid openings, and steam supplying means connected with said hood.

3. A baking oven comprising a substan-' tially horizontal conveyermovable in said oven, a movable hood extending over said conveyerlocated at the entrance of said oven and arranged to be coupled with andto travel alimited distance, with said conveyer, the end walls of saidhood, being formed with openings, slides adapted to control saidopenings, means for operating said slides in unison, and steam supplyingmeans connected with said hood.

4. A baking oven comprising a substantially horizontal conveyer movablein said oven, a movable hood extending over said conveyer located at theentrance of said oven and arranged to be coupled withand to travel alimited distance with said conveyer, steam supplying means connectedgit}:1 said hood, and means for heating said 5. A baking oven comprisinga substan tially horizontal conveyer movable in said oven, a movablehood extending, over said conveyer located at the entrance of said ovenand arranged to be coupled with and to travel a limited distance 'withsaid conveyer, steam supplying means connected with said hood, means formoving said hood relativeto said -conveyer, a flange-on said hood and acheck on, said oven for limiting the motion of said hood.

6. A baking oven comprising a substantially horizontal conveyer movablein said oven, a. movable hood extending over said conveyor located atthe entrance of said oven and arranged to becoupled with and to travel alimited distance with said conveyor, steam supplying means connectedwith said hood, and steam exhausting means on said hood extending intoand reciprocable in a. flue provided in said oven.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRIEDRioH KI'JHTZ.

